10 Informative YouTube Videos to Grow Your Mind

Our world is full of wonder, and the internet has managed to capture some of it. | Source

1. The Most Dangerous Chemicals On Earth

Have you heard of the world's most dangerous chemicals? These aren't merely chemicals that are corrosive or extremely flammable. Some of these are chemicals that react violently even if a drop of water is added to them or if they are shaken gently or moved. Some of these chemicals explode violently if exposed to light. Some of these chemicals burn everything in their surroundings even if they are only being stored.

Did you know that only inhaling some of these chemicals could actually kill you?

2. How the Bitcoin Cryptocurrency Works

Bitcoins have been in the news for the better part of the last few years. Yet, there is a lot of misconception surrounding how bitcoins are created, acquired, and transferred. Watch this simple explanation video to get rid of all the myths surrounding this cryptocurrency.

What is a cryptocurrency? It is a currency system that works by encryption.

Bitcoins ensure near-perfect anonymity and are free of processing fees. The best part is that they are not linked to the banking system of any country, so they remain valid even if one country or a number of countries try try to block their usage.

3. The True Map Of The World Looks Vastly Different From What You See On Maps

That's right! Russia is definitely the largest country in terms of land area, but it actually looks smaller than it is made out to be on maps. Greenland, if placed near the the equator, would look way tinier.

The continent of Africa and Brazil are made to look smaller on maps, but they are absolutely huge!

4. How Far Could You Actually Get From Other Humans

There are, even in the twenty-first century, places in our world where you could be thousands of kilometers from other people. Take for instance the island of Tristan da Cunha, which is in the middle of nowhere in the Southern Atlantic Ocean. When the International Space Station makes its journey overhead, the residents of Tristan da Cunha are closer to the astronauts on it than to any other people on the planet we call home. This island, however, is not the furthest you could go from other people while still remaining on Earth. That would be at the Oceanic Pole Of Inaccessibility, or Point Nemo as it is more popularly known as.

5. Misconceptions Surrounding a HIV-Positive Diagnosis

People who are HIV-positive are often the victims of ostracism. This is one of the unfortunate consequences of the myths surrounding the Human Immunodeficiency Virus syndrome. Watch this eye-opening video for a real-life perspective on what it means to live with the virus.

6. Man Is Released From Prison After 44 Years

Release from prison after close to half-a-century of incarceration presents stiff challenges to the former prisoner. He or she is faced with a vastly-changed-world that is nothing like what it once was. He or she is forced to confront very unsettling realities about what it means to be a person in the modern era: an era that is driven largely by groundbreaking technology and 24*7 high-speed internet access.

This is an endearing video that presents us with an opportunity to learn a life lesson or two from someone who has only recently been released after serving a life sentence.

7. Short Fingers Are No Impediment to a Pianist's Dreams

Wael Farouk is a pianist unlike any other. He has developed into one of the best in the business almost solely by turning a deaf ear to the seeming experts and naysayers who told him that he would never make it as a concert pianist because his fingers couldn't span even an octave. His progress has proved them wrong. This video serves as motivation not just for musicians but also for anyone who has been told to give up on his or her dreams because of physical attributes that seemingly place him or her at a disadvantage.

8. The Reasons People Give to Justify Sexual Assault

One of the oldest crimes still continues to be a problem as a result of a mentality that refuses to change. Even in this era of information at the click-of-a mouse, some people place the blame of sexual assault and molestation on the victim. This video takes a humorous and sarcastic look at why women get violated regardless of what they wear.

9. Can You Cry In Space?

Obviously, you'd still feel emotions if you were in orbit, but could you actually weep in outer space? The answer is explained in this video by Astronaut Chris Hadfield of the Canadian Space Agency from the International Space Station. He uses a demonstration with a water sachet to illustrate his point.

10. Land-Use Changes In the World's Final Forest Frontier

The island of New Guinea is certainly one of remotest places in the world despite being only a short distance from the economic powerhouse of Australia. The western-half of the island, which is administered, although controversially, by Indonesia is witnessing rapid deforestation of some of the densest rainforests on Earth. In this video, Greenpeace activists on a helicopter make a simple visual audit of the green cover in the region.